Play With Me, Sing to Me, Read to Me, Me, Me: Fostering the Development of Toddlers

By Shelley Butler

Teachers, caregivers, and parents never fail to get a thrill each time they witness a baby taking a first step; few milestones in early childhood are as dramatic, significant, and exciting for all involved as learning to walk. Once a baby becomes fully mobile on two feet, usually sometime after the first birthday, life is never the same. Though wobbly and still preferring to crawl at times, this baby turns into a new kind of being: a toddler!

Toddlerhood is that stage of life that falls roughly between 14 - 36 months in which energy is high, separation is desired but difficult, the need to explore and experiment is great, and most everything is new and exciting. “I appreciate toddlers’ enthusiasm for life,” says Ohio mom, Cindy Meunier.

Yet, let’s face it, teaching, caring for, and raising a toddler can be challenging and perhaps more difficult than any other stage of childhood, but why is that? According to Dr. Robbie Roberts, Director of Harris Early Learning Center of Birmingham (an affiliate of Auburn University): “Toddlerhood is the age and stage best characterized by the explosion of mobility, language, and independence. Outward frustrations are often exhibited due to their ability to comprehend and understand much more than they are able to verbalize, and due to their desire for ‘me do it’ when they are often not physically capable to do for themselves, which can result in fits, tantrums, and other forms of frustration.”

The Myth of the “Terrible” Toddler

Toddlers may get nettled more often and quickly than older kids and adults, but do they really deserve the label of “terrible?” When you consider that the major social, emotional, intellectual, and physical developmental tasks of toddlerhood include independence, separation, mastering control of the body, toilet learning, significant acquisition of speech and language, as well as learning to think, solve problems, interact with peers, and more, then “tough” or “tenacious” may be better choices to describe toddlers.

Building Up Confidence While Cutting Down Frustration

Toddlers burst with energy, yet they possess far fewer skills than adults, and as a result it’s not surprising that toddlers need help, and lots of it, in managing to grow and develop with ease. You can cut down on toddlers’ frustration while helping to build their confidence and here’s how:

Greet and meet each toddler’s development separately. Keep in mind that while development follows a predictable pattern that includes regression then growth, each child develops at an individual pace that is impacted by many factors such as individual temperament.

Play with, supervise, and always keep toddlers in sight. When nearby or actively involved, you can prevent many struggles between toddlers and head off some individual frustrations.

Set up the environment so that toddlers can move and explore independently, yet safely. Toddlers need space and freedom to practice motor skills, interact with others, use their senses, and learn language by themselves.

Communicate to toddlers that they arecapable. Offer ways to practice skills that are meaningful to them, such as taking toys off and putting toys back on a shelf. Focus on what toddlers can do over and above what they can’t.

ENJOY toddlerhood. Unique and special toddlers say and do the cutest things!

Activities to Keep Toddlers Happy, Busy, and Developing

Each time you play, sing, talk, or interact with a toddler, you are helping that child grow and mature in a myriad of ways. While no one area of skills develops independently of another, toddlers do benefit from a wide variety of experiences that focus on language, experimentation, physical movement, social interaction, or exploration. Here are a few activities that touch on these areas of development that are proven to be winners with toddlers.